Inbound · SEO & AEO

Organic visibility, built for both Google and the AI search era.

Search is splitting into two layers. Traditional SEO still drives most of organic traffic. But ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews are the new gatekeepers — and the rules of being cited there are different from the rules of ranking on page one.

Verto runs SEO and AEO as one engine. Technical foundation that crawlers and AI systems can both read. Content built for ICP buying-journey queries. Topical authority that compounds across both surfaces. The result: organic visibility that lowers CAC across every paid channel.

95%YoY

organic traffic growth · Cribl · contributing to $100M ARR

Book your free Pipeline Assessment See the engine

5 business days. 30 minutes of your time. Yours to keep.

SEO + AEO Tracked across ChatGPT · Perplexity · Google AIO Hybrid AI + human content engine
G2 ★ 4.9

The two layers

Search isn't one surface anymore.

Layer 1 · SEO

RANK
how to integrate marketing data with crm

  • vertodigital.com

    Marketing-to-CRM integration · the data layer

    Server-side GTM, GA4, BigQuery — wired into HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo. Pipeline stages flow back to ad platforms via offline conversion tracking.

  • competitor-a.com

    Top 7 marketing automation tools

    A list of vendors. Mostly SEO bait. Probably not what the buyer needed.

  • competitor-b.com

    CRM data integration explained

    Generic article. Heavy on definitions, light on specifics.

Optimization regime: technical foundation, content depth, internal linking, link authority, site speed.

Layer 2 · AEO

BE CITED
how to integrate marketing data with crm

For B2B SaaS, the integration runs server-side: a GTM container captures events, GA4 streams to BigQuery, and the CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce, or Marketo) exchanges deal-stage signals with ad platforms via offline conversion tracking 1. The bid algorithm learns from closed-won outcomes 1, not from form-fills 2.

Sources cited

1 vertodigital.com · cited 2×
2 competitor-c.com · cited 1×

Optimization regime: structured chunks, schema markup, source authority, factual specificity, topical breadth.

One content layer

Built for both surfaces

Buyers used to type a query into Google and click a result. Some still do. But increasingly, the answer is delivered before they reach a result page — by ChatGPT, by Perplexity, by Google AI Overviews. The buyer never visits your site. They get the answer, and either you were cited as the source or you weren't.

Two surfaces. Two optimization regimes.

  • SEO Built for ranking. Technical foundation, content depth, internal linking, link authority, site speed. The discipline is mature, the mechanics are well-understood, and the work compounds.
  • AEO Built for being cited. Structured content, schema markup, source authority, content "chunks" the LLM can extract, factual specificity, and topical breadth. The discipline is forming. The companies that establish authority now will own the AI search results for the next decade.

Most agencies do the first. Few do the second well. The third — running them as one engine, where technical SEO investments compound AEO authority and vice versa — is what the Verto SEO & AEO program is built around.

Methodology

How we run B2B SEO and AEO.

Five components. The system is what produces the compounding effect.

Live · SEO + AEO compounding flywheel

SEO + AEO compounding flywheel A cyclical workflow showing five stages — Technical foundation, Content roadmap, Production engine (AI plus human), Distribution and AEO optimization, and Authority signal feedback — connected in a closed loop. Each stage feeds the next, and authority signal flows back to inform the technical foundation, producing a compounding flywheel. Compounding flywheel SEO + AEO 01 Technical foundation CRAWL · SCHEMA · CWV 02 Content roadmap ICP QUERY MAP 03 Production engine AI + HUMAN SME 04 Distribution + AEO CHATGPT · PERPLEXITY · AIO 05 Authority signal CITATIONS · LINKS · CTRs Authority compounds across both surfaces. SEO INVESTMENTS LIFT AEO · AEO CITATIONS LIFT SEO
01 infrastructure

Technical foundation.

Crawlability audit. Core Web Vitals. Schema markup that both Google and LLMs read. JavaScript rendering that doesn't hide content from crawlers. Page speed at the edge. The boring infrastructure that determines whether anything else you do matters.

02 strategy

Content roadmap built for the buying journey.

ICP-defined query mapping. Not "high-volume keywords" — high-fit queries, scored by where they sit in the buying journey. BOF and transactional queries first (fastest path to pipeline influence). MOF queries second (consideration content). TOF queries last (problem-aware authority content).

03 production

Hybrid AI + human content engine.

AI handles structure, first-draft, and scaling. Human subject-matter experts handle accuracy, point-of-view, and the original insight LLMs can't produce on their own. The output is content that ranks, gets cited, and reads like it was written by someone who understands the topic — because it was.

04 AEO layer

AEO-specific optimization.

Content structured in extractable chunks. Schema markup for Articles, FAQs, How-Tos. Source authority built through citations from authoritative domains. Direct factual specificity that LLMs can quote without hallucination risk. We monitor your presence in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AIO across target queries and tune accordingly.

05 compounding

Internal linking and topical clusters.

Authority compounds when content forms clusters around buying-journey themes. We map every published asset to the cluster it serves and the conversion goal it drives. The internal link architecture turns isolated articles into a topical authority network.

Sister channel

LinkedIn Paid Social

The awareness layer · the buyer group sees you before they search.

Sister channel

Paid Search

The harvest layer · captures hand-raisers at the moment of intent.

Proof

What this looks like

See all case studies
Cribl Observability

+95%

organic traffic YoY

$100M

ARR contribution

Hybrid AI + human content engine plus full technical SEO foundation. Topical authority program built around buying-journey queries.

See the work
Scalefocus IT Services

+138%

organic QoQ

Content authority program live

across multiple service categories

SEO + AEO program built around ICP buying-journey themes.

See the work
Spectro Cloud Cloud Infra

+89.93%

YoY organic

Topical authority compounding

across the DevOps cluster

Technical foundation rebuild + content roadmap aligned to ICP queries.

See the work

The AEO perspective

AEO is where most B2B companies are invisible.

Run a query about your category in ChatGPT. Run the same query in Perplexity. Run it in Google AIO. Are you cited? In how many of the answers? With what context?

Most B2B technology companies have no idea. The data isn't in their analytics stack. Their content team isn't measuring it. Their SEO agency isn't tracking it.

We track it. The Pipeline Assessment includes an AI search visibility check across 10–15 of your target queries — showing exactly where you're cited, where you're invisible, and where the competition has built authority you haven't.

The companies that fix this in 2026 will own the AI search results for the next decade. The companies that wait will be cited less and less, as LLMs build their citation graphs around whoever showed up first.

Customer voice

Our clients speak for themselves.

G2

4.9 / 5

"They are particularly impressive in their SEO practice and their sophisticated approach to data and signals. They understand the nuances of modern search and go beyond traditional tactics, which has delivered exceptional results for us."

Boryana A.

Digital Director, Mid-Market

Who this fits

Who SEO and AEO fits.

Best fit

  • B2B SaaS or B2B technology with at least 18 months runway to compound (organic is a long-cycle channel)
  • Existing site with reasonable technical foundation (or willingness to fix it)
  • Subject-matter experts on the team who can be involved in content review
  • Category with at least moderate search demand and a forming AI-search citation pattern

Not the right fit yet

  • Sub-12-month runway — organic doesn't deliver in time
  • Brand-new category with no search demand and no AI citation history — start with paid awareness
  • Inability to involve SMEs in content review — AEO content needs accuracy beyond what generalist writers produce

If you're in this column, the Pipeline Assessment will flag what to fix first.

FAQ

Questions B2B marketing leaders ask before signing.

What's the difference between SEO and AEO?
SEO optimizes content to rank in traditional search results (Google, Bing). AEO — Answer Engine Optimization — optimizes content to be cited as a source by AI answer engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews). Same content layer, different optimization requirements. Most agencies do the first. We do both.
How long until SEO shows results?
Technical foundation and BOF-query content can show ranking movement in 60–90 days. Topical authority compounding takes 6–12 months. Most engagements see meaningful organic pipeline contribution by month 9.
Do you do link building?
We do digital PR and partnership-driven link building tied to topical authority objectives. We don't do paid link buying, link networks, or guest-post-spam tactics. The work is slower; it lasts.
How do you measure AEO performance?
We track citation presence across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AIO for a defined set of target queries. Audit cadence is monthly. Reporting includes citation rate, citation context, and competitor citation share.
Will AI-generated content hurt our SEO?
AI-generated content alone, with no human review, is bad. AI-generated content with subject-matter expert review, brand voice editing, and accuracy verification is fine — and is how the major B2B publishers now operate at scale. Our hybrid model is built on this principle.
Do you write all the content yourselves?
We can. We can also work with your in-house team on a co-production model, or with your existing content agency on a strategy-and-quality-control engagement. Most clients pick a hybrid based on their internal capacity.
Can you guarantee rankings?
No. Anyone who guarantees rankings is either lying or using tactics that will get the site penalized. We agree on leading indicators (publishing velocity, technical health, citation growth) and lagging outcomes (organic pipeline contribution) — and we report on both.

How we engage

Assess. Pilot. Grow.

Day 1 FREE

Pipeline Assessment

AI search visibility check across 10–15 target queries. Technical SEO snapshot. Content gap analysis. Five days. Thirty-minute debrief.

Day 90 PILOT

SEO/AEO Pilot Sprint

Technical foundation rebuild. Content roadmap published. First BOF/transactional content live. AEO baseline measured. Foundation for compounding established.

Day 90+ ONGOING

Always-On SEO & AEO

Continuous content production. Quarterly authority audits. AI search citation monitoring. 30-day notice from day one.

Commercial guarantee

No 12-month lock-in. No surprise scope fees. Renewal earned quarterly.

30-day notice from day one

Cancel any time. The contract doesn't trap you.

Fixed-fee pilots, no scope creep

What you signed for is what you pay. Always.

Renewal earned every quarter

Pipeline targets reviewed at QBR. The work earns the next quarter.

One last thing

See where you're invisible in AI search. In five days.

The Pipeline Assessment includes an AI search visibility check across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AIO. The same diagnostic we run before any SEO/AEO engagement.

Five business days. No commitment.

Book your free Pipeline Assessment Back to Inbound